Cheapest Form 5472 Filing Service in 2026: Every Provider's Real Price Compared

Every provider delivers the same two documents to the IRS — Form 5472 and the pro forma Form 1120 it attaches to — and the IRS charges nothing for either. So the price is entirely the provider’s fee, and what separates the options is who prepares the forms, who reviews them, whether they are actually sent to the IRS for you, and what happens to the price when your LLC was active or you are behind on past years. Here is the full market, cheapest first. (If you are new to the filing itself, start with what Form 5472 is and who files it.)

We are not the cheapest, and this table does not pretend otherwise. Edetax and 5472Direct cost less, and two other services list the same headline price we charge. The honest case for form5472.tax is narrower: one flat $299 whether your LLC was active or dormant, IRS submission included, and the same $299 for every catch-up year.

All three tiers can produce a valid filing. The difference is where the responsibility for getting it right sits. At $49.99, Edetax gives you a guided form and sends it: the answers are yours, and so is the risk that a related party or transaction is reported wrongly. At $199, 5472Direct prepares Form 5472, the pro forma 1120 and a statement, and its $49 IRS Direct Delivery add-on brings the delivered total to $248. At $299, the service prepares, reviews and submits.

Framed against the downside, the arithmetic is simple. A substantially incomplete Form 5472 is treated as not filed, and the penalty is $25,000 per form, per year. Paying $250 more to have someone else own the accuracy is about 1% of one penalty. For a confident repeat filer with one simple transaction, the cheaper tier is a reasonable trade.

The headline price is the same, so the differences are in the conditions attached to it. The most important one for a foreign-owned single-member LLC is the reportable transaction: funding the LLC is itself a reportable capital contribution, so virtually every such LLC has at least one. A price that applies only when there are no reportable transactions will not apply to most filers.

Which one fits

If you are several years behind, 5472.io’s $199 per additional late year is the cheapest catch-up price listed. If a named CPA matters most to you, form5472.ai is transparent about that, at $399+ once your LLC has reportable transactions. If you want one price that does not move with activity or year, that is what form5472.tax charges. See exactly what it covers on the pricing page.

form5472.online is the most expensive per-filing specialist in this comparison, and it is also the most explicit about what it adds. The $547 figure applies to an active LLC. A dormant LLC with no income or expenses pays $448. Both include preparation and signature by a named licensed CPA, a zero-penalty guarantee, and 12-month IRS monitoring.

The IRS does not charge a submission fee, so the $49 line is the provider’s own charge for sending the return. Whether the guarantee and monitoring are worth $149–$248 more than a flat $299 is a fair question to put to each provider. A side-by-side of the two is on the form5472.online alternative page.

Formation platforms are subscription businesses. Firstbasesells “Tax Filing (Non-US owned Single-Member LLCs)” as a standalone product at $899 per year, including the pro forma Form 1120. doola’s Tax and Compliance plan is $1,999 per year plus state fees; its pricing page lists business IRS tax filings among the plan features but does not itemise Form 5472. Stripe Atlas charges $500 to form the company, which includes the first year of registered agent service, then $100 per year for the agent. Its pricing page lists no annual federal tax filing, so Atlas founders need a separate filer.

If a platform plan is costing you money only for this filing, moving to a per-filing service is the biggest single saving. See the dedicated breakdowns: doola alternative, Firstbase alternative, Stripe Atlas alternative, and the step-by-step switch from doola or Firstbase guide.

A single-year price undersells the real decision, because the filing comes back every April. A foreign-owned LLC that stays open for three years files three times, and a subscription renews whether or not you use anything else in it. Multiplying each provider’s verified annual price by three, for a filing made on time each year:

The ranking does not change, but the gaps widen. Over three years a doola plan costs roughly $5,100 more than a flat $299 filing, and Firstbase’s plan roughly $1,800 more. If either subscription exists only to get this one return filed, the full Form 5472 cost comparison sets out every tier, and the switcher guide linked above explains how to move without touching your LLC or EIN.

We would rather say this plainly than pretend the paid tier is always right. There are real cases where a cheaper service — or DIY — is the sensible choice:

A prepared-and-reviewed filing earns its cost in the opposite case: a first-time filer, several missed years, more than one related party, or simply wanting someone else to own the accuracy of the one form that carries a $25,000 penalty.

A low headline price is often not the delivered price. Every trap below appears on at least one pricing page in the table above. Read the checkout, not the hero banner:

The rule we hold ourselves to is one price, with no base fee plus extras. See exactly what is included on the pricing page, or start on the apply page.

The IRS charges nothing to file, so DIY is free in cash terms. The catch is that the form is unforgiving: there is no e-file route for a foreign-owned disregarded entity, the pro forma 1120 with Form 5472 attached must be mailed to 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201 or faxed to 855-887-7737 by the deadline, and a substantially incomplete return is treated as not filed. The deadline is April 15, or October 15 with a Form 7004 extension. The penalty is $25,000 per form, per year, with no cap under IRC §6038A(d), and under §6501(c)(8) the assessment period for that year stays open until the information is filed.

DIY is the right call for a confident repeat filer with a simple return, working from the line-by-line Form 5472 instructions. For everyone else, weigh it honestly with our blog on Form 5472 CPA vs DIY. And to be clear about our own scope: we prepare and file the return, but we do not offer penalty-abatement or IRS representation — that requires a licensed CPA, EA, or attorney.